Venting device



April 14, 1964 G. B. RUNO VENTING DEVICE w WM m ma r F M 4 a 6 v r m m F INVENTOR. 60/200 5. Raw.

EDWARD 0,. OER/Au A 7'TOE/VEY United States Patent ()fiice 3,128,899 Patented Apr. 14, 1964 Filed Oct. 22, 1962, Ser. No. 232,063 i 1 Claim. (Cl. 220-44) This invention relates to a vent structure for use in conjunction with storage tanks. More particularly, the invention relates to a vent construction for use with fluid storage tanks of the type wherein the fluid within the tank is drained therefrom by means of a suction force applied to a discharge opening in the tank.

In the handling of fluids for storage or transport in storage tanks it is often expedient to both fill and empty the tank by means of forced flow of the fluid in order to realize a saving in filling and emptying time and also to minimize the likelihood of contaminating the fluid being handled. Such handling methods are utilized when large volumes of fluids are handled, when chemical purity of the fluid must be maintained or when fluid foods, such as milk are being handled. When these types of fluids are being handled it is customary to fill the storage tank through an opening having a removable sealing closure which is restored in sealed relation over the opening upon completion of the filling operation. At the time the fluid is to be removed from the tank a suction hose or conduit is applied to a discharge opening often located at the bottom or a low point of the tank and the sealing closure or other vent means is opened to provide an intake of air or other fluid to avoid collapsing the tank as a result of the vacuum created within the tank as the fluid is withdrawn under the suction force of the discharge hose.

The use of such an emptying procedure has often resulted in considerable damage or complete collapse of the tank due to the failure of the operators to completely release the filling opening closure or their failure to open vents which are often provided for the above purpose. It has not been found practical to provide constantly open vents to eliminate this problem because present vent structures permit spillage of the fluid through the vent during transport and also contamination of the fluid within the tank due to the entrance of contaminants through the vent. Hence it can be seen that when fluids such as milk are being handled in storage tanks there is always the risk that the tank may be collapsed due to the failure of the operator to open a vent, or of contaminating the milk if vents of the construction of prior art vents are utilized.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved vent construction for use with storage tanks. Another object is the provision of a tank vent structure preventing the egress of fluids within the tank. A further object of the invention is the provision of a tank vent having means for preventing the egress of fluids within the tank and the entrance of contaminants from without the tank. A more specific object is the provision of a constantly venting structure for storage tanks embodying a baflle construction which prevents the entrance of air-borne contaminants into the tank and the escape of fluid from the tank as a result of movement of the fluid within the tank.

It is another object of the invention to provide a tank vent inexpensive of manufacture, efiicient in operation, easily installed and removed from operating assembly, and simply maintained in operating position.

The manner in which the advantages of the present invention are more particularly realized and its further objects and features achieved will become more clearly apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention taken in reference to the drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a top view of a mobile tank embodying the vent of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional View taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a battle element forming a part of the vent shown in FIGS. 1-3.

The accompanying drawing is primarily intended so as to illustrate a presently preferred means of constructing a tank vent falling within the scope of this disclosure. It is to be understood that those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains may effect alterations in the embodiment of the vent device disclosed by use of routine, normal ordinary engineering skills without departing from the inventive concepts of the device. Also further equivalent means can be employed in order to accomplish the operations and structural advantages of the invention.

As an aid to understanding this invention it can be stated in essentially summary form that it involves a venting device embodying a venting tube housing baffling means having a perforate head and a plurality of bafiles for preventing the entrance of air-borne contaminants into a tank and the egress of fluids from the tank, and air passing mounting means for removably positioning the device with respect to a vent opening in a tank.

The invention can be more fully understood by referring to the accompanying drawing in which FIG. 1 shows a conventional tanker truck 10 having an ordinary rear mounted tank 12 which is provided at its top surface with the vent assembly 14 comprising the invention. As previously stated, such trucks are often used to transport milk which may be discharged into the tank through a conventional closable top port and drained by means of a vacuum line which attaches to a usual discharge fitting located on the bottom of the tank.

- As shown in FIGS. 2-3, the vent is formed by a tubular vent duct 16 having an outwardly and upwardly extending top end flange 18 which is removably seated within a cooperating conical recess in the end of a tubular mounting fitting 20 of larger inside diameter than the lower tubular section of the duct 16. The fitting 20 extends both outwardly and inwardly of the tank 12 and is suitably joined thereto at an intermediate portion to the tank wall 22.

A baflie assembly 24 is centrally positioned in the inner bore 25 of the tubular duct 16 which is provided at its top end with a flush end disc 26 having a lower conical seat 28 that cooperates with the conical surface on the inside of the flange 18 to centrally and removably seat the bafile member Within the tubular duct 16. The end disc 26 is provided with a plurality of equally spaced air passage openings 30 disposed in a circular array adjacent the edge of the disc. At its underside the disc 25 is provided with a depending solid central shaft 32 which extends substantially to the lower open end of the duct 16. A plurality of substantially semi-circular bafile plates 36 are equally spaced along and concentrically disposed on the central shaft 34. The diameter defined by the baifle plates provides an extremely close but sliding fit between the tubular duct and the baffle assembly. As may be seen in FIGS. 2 and 4 the baflle plates are alternately disposed on diametrically opposed sides of the central shaft.

The tubular vent duct -16 and central baflle assembly 24 are held in rigid assembly in the fitting 20 by means of a venting cap 38 having a depending flange 40 provided with internal threads 42 which engage external threads disposed at the top end of the mounting fitting 20' attached to the tank. The inside of the venting cap has an outer annular bearing protuberance 44 and a central circular protuberance 46 which bear against the outer edge and center of the end disc respectively upon tightening of the venting cap on the fitting 20. In order to facilitate the application and removal of the cap, a plurality of gripping: indentations 48 are provided along the outer edge of the flange 40. To assure circulation of air through the air passage holes 30 in the end disc of the bafiie assembly and hence through the maze formed by the baflie plates 36 into-the tank, the cap is provided with a pair of sector shaped vent opening 50. The openings 50 are so disposed diametrically on the top of the cap so that they will always be in overlying relation with respect to the passage holes 30 in the end disc regardless of the rotary position of the cap.

In this, the preferred embodiment of the invention the cap 38, vent duct 16 and central baffle assembly 24 are each of one-piece molded plastic construction and the fitting 20 is formed from metal to facilitate itswelding to the tank; It is to be understood that each' of these parts may be formed from other suitable materials and may if desired be of multi-part construction. The only limitation imposed on the selection of materials for the particular use of this embodiment is that the parts must withstand the sterilizing heat they would be subjected to when the tank and disassembled venting device are periodically cleaned.

The above described venting device is obviously static in operation and always provides venting either into the tank during draining of the tank and out ofthe tank during filling operations; Thus it can be seen that both the filling and draining operations can be conducted by the application of force to the fluid thus greatly reducing the time required for each operation.

In operation, it is-apparent that air is always free to move through the maze formed by the baflie plates 36, holes 30 in the end disc 26 of the baffle assembly and through the vent opening 50 in the cap 38. It has been found that when a fluid of the viscosity of milk is being handled that the number of baffle plate as shown effectively dampens the motion of the milk to keep it from splashing as a result of the motion of the truck carrying the tank so that it will not' go beyond the second or third baflle plate from the bottom. This effectively provides a safe margin of separation from the milk and the air-borne contaminants which will settle no lower than the first or second baflle plate from the top of the assembly. As previously described the entire venting device can be readily disassembled by unscrewing the cap 38 to enable the cleaning and sterilization of the parts of the vent at periodicintervals.

From the foregoing it is apparent that a new venting device has been provided for use on either stationary or movable fluid storage tanks which provides continuous automatic venting of the tank without contamination of the fluid as a result of continuous venting. And of utmost importance, the continuous venting afforded by the device eliminates the possibility of damage by bulging, partial or complete collapse of the tank that would result from filling the tank under pressure or draining-4t by means of a high vacuum suction.

It will be realized by those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains that by ordinary skills a variety of differently appearing venting devices may be designed and built utilizing the features of the invention as embodied in the above described example of the device of the invention. Accordingly, since the structures of this invention are susceptible to such modification the invention is to be considered as being limited only by the appended claims.

I claim:

A venting device for use in a fluid storage tank, said device comprising a hollow tubular fitting adapted to be sealed intermediate the top and bottom end thereof in an opening in said tank, said fitting being provided 'with a seating surface at the top end thereof, a tubular duct supported in coaxial relation with respect to and within said fitting by means of a flange positioned at the top end of said duct, a baffle assembly coaxially disposed within said duct, said assembly comprising a positioning plate having passage holes and which spans the top end of said duct and is provided with a seating surface engageable with said flange, shaft depending from said plate on which is disposed a plurality of spaced and staggered baffle plates defining a tortuous open path along the length of said duct, and perforate cap means having a flange removably engageable with the top end of said fitting whereby a bearing surface on said cap means is engaged with said positioning plate to maintain said duct, fitting and positioning plate in assembled position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,399,384 Pross Apr. 30, 1946 2,918,192 Dedman Dec. 22, 1959 3,072,284 Luhman Jan. 8, 1963 

